With President Bashar Al Assad almost certain to hold on to power in Wednesday’s election, Syria will have been ruled for more than five decades by the same family.
1970: Hafez takes charge
Hafez Al Assad, Syria’s defence minister and the father of Bashar, takes power in a military coup on November 16, 1970 that ousts president Nureddin Al Atassi.
Mr Assad, who leads the pan-Arab nationalist Baath party, is elected president on March 12, 1971. He is the only candidate.
He is Syria’s first head of state from the Alawite sect of Shiite Islam. The minority makes up 10 per cent of the population.
1973: War with Israel
Egypt and Syria launch a surprise attack on Israel on October 6, 1973 in a bid to win back territories they lost in the 1967 Middle East War, but they are pushed back.
A disengagement agreement for the Golan Heights – formerly held by Syria – is signed in May 1974, officially ending the war.
1976: Lebanon intervention
A month later, US president Richard Nixon visits Damascus and announces the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Syria, which have been frozen since 1967.
Two years later, Syrian troops intervene in the Lebanese civil war, with US approval, after an appeal by embattled Christian forces.
For three decades, Damascus will be a dominant military and political force in Lebanon.
1982: Brutal repression
The Syrian regime viciously cracks down on an armed uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood in the city of Hama in February 1982. Between 10,000 and 40,000 people die.
The Brotherhood have been previously accused of a 1979 attack in which 80 military cadets, all Alawite, were killed in a hail of gunfire and grenades at their academy in Aleppo.
Courting the West
Syria’s ties with the US begin to thaw in 1990-1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, with which Damascus a decade earlier had signed a Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation.
After Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, Syria joins the multinational forces in the US-led coalition against Saddam Hussein.
2000: Son Bashar takes over
Hafez Al Assad dies on June 10, 2000, at the age of 69. A month later, his son Bashar becomes Syria’s new head of state, winning a referendum with 97 per cent of the vote. Again, he is the only candidate.
In September that year, 100 intellectuals call for the lifting of martial law, more freedom and political pluralism. It becomes known as the “Damascus Spring”.
But the period of apparent openness is short-lived. Mr Assad’s government cracks down on dissent and arrests 10 opponents in July 2001.
2011: Arab Spring
A decade later, the Arab uprisings against autocratic rulers in the Middle East arrive in Syria. Protests break out in March calling for civil liberties and the release of political prisoners.
Brutally repressed by the regime, the demonstrations turn into a devastating war, with several regional and international powers, and extremist groups, getting involved.
Decade-long war
With huge military support from Iran and Russia, the Assad regime has ground out a string of military victories in recent years and regained about two thirds of Syria.
The war has claimed more than 388,000 lives and about 12 million people have been displaced or forced into exile. It has caused massive destruction and battered the country’s economy.
Read more on Syria:
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Syrian photographer Anas Alkharboutli captures another side of daily life in war-torn country: 'All people see is the conflict'
Alawite divisions exposed in Syria as powerful road-rage killer walks free
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Brief scores:
Toss: Northern Warriors, elected to field first
Bengal Tigers 130-1 (10 ov)
Roy 60 not out, Rutherford 47 not out
Northern Warriors 94-7 (10 ov)
Simmons 44; Yamin 4-4
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
UAE Division 1
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 12-24 Abu Dhabi Saracens
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
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